Alice Defranoux, Rail Manager at GEFCO, commented: “We are pleased to partner with our longstanding customer to provide this milestone carbon-neutral train. Market demand is increasing for more climate-friendly solutions, especially in long-distance transportation. At GEFCO, we calculate the environmental impact of our solutions, re-engineer them to minimize emissions and propose offsetting solutions for any remaining carbon. Rail is a very good way to achieve reduced carbon emissions.”
The three-week journey on the New Silk Road includes travel from Slovakia to BrestMałaszewicze at the Polish-Belorussian border, where the goods will be transferred from European to Russian rail wagons to adapt to the 1.52m rail gauge. The block train will then travel through Belarus and Russia and arrive at Alashankou-Dostyk in Kazakhstan, a major link in the Eurasian Land Bridge on the border with Xinjiang, the port of entry into China. The goods will then be loaded on Chinese wagons before their final delivery in Xi’an.